Please pray for my husband

[sugarssweetpea]

Hello all,
I would like to ask for prayer for my husband. I posted quite awhile ago about our financial issues & they have continued to get worse. We are behind in everything including the mortgage. November & December were really slow months for his work (we are self employed) and anything that he has done in January, the people are paying a minimum of 30 days out. We just went to the food pantry at our church today b/c as of right now we cannot even afford groceries. We have enough money owed to us for work he has done to pay almost 2 months worth of bills. ANyway, he is really stressed about it. And he is getting very angry & depressed. He is having a hard time praying b/c he is angry. Please pray for him to keep his faith in God. We do not know what God's plan is. Please pray for him to know that God WILL provide for us. He will take care of us. Please pray for him to lay his burdens before the Lord. (as in Mat 11:28). The speaker in our bible study class yesterday talked about that. I like that verse & philippians 4:6-7. I am praying for him. I am scared too, but am really trying to pray & cast all my burdens onto the Lord. He is in control. I know htat we made past mistakes & have to suffer the consequences, but I know that God will take care of us if we put our trust in Him. I am just asking for much, much prayer for him. I really need him to be strong right now. I need him to be the spiritual leader. I need him to work with me in teaching our children how to have faith. And, yes, I do not want the situation to get worse b/c of his lack of faith & prayer. That scares me too. Thank you for your prayers.

[dave47]

Sorry things are so tough for you SSP, praying for you and your family.

[MNGirlyGirl]

Sweatpea,

Prayers going out to you and your family. Stay strong.

[Hope]

I will pray for your family.

God will protect you and he will make a way. It doesn't seem like it in the natural realm but what appears impossible in the natural is entirely possible in the supernatural with God in the situation.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:1b-3a)

Your father knows what you need before you ask him. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today's trouble is enough for today. (Matthew 6:8b,25,31-34)

[toad]

we are praying.........you do have the favor of God on your lives.

[IO Storm]

Sugar......

:


Psalm 37:25

I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

[cmc]

[sugarssweetpea]

My husband's ex took him to court back in 2003. Our lawyer got him the standard every other weekend & 4 hr on Wed visitation & yet still charged us $10,000. We have been paying monthly. I have forgotten to pay it as we do not have statements from them & it has been a long time ago. ANyway, I have not payed since July. I just mentioned it to my husband when I remembered it about a week ago when going through files for the year. The lawyers office called him yesterday. I do not know what is going to happen with that. We are going to try to get them a payment as soon as we can. Along with everyone else.

I took our income taxes in yesterday & have to do a bunch more work on them, which is further detaining our refund (still praying we are going to get one & not owe).

And to top it off, the benevolent fund committee called from our church. They said that they could not help us. It was not a bugeted fund & they did not have that kind of money.

THAT is what I mean when I say it just keeps adding on & on. Please continue to pray for us to come out of this lesson SOON. And a whole lot wiser from it, NEVER to enter into it again.
Thank you.

[best]

Solutions are just around the corner.

I am starting to see the sun shine from behind the clouds as of today.
Insurance check showed up today. W2s showed up today. Another issue is moving forward as the paperwork gets done.
Yesterday I had no cash, today I have some, tomorrow I will have more.
Had a call for a job interview come Monday as well. The answers do come.

Through it all...I have remained sober.

Your answers are on the way. Trust the Lord and He will prove Himself every time.

[sugarssweetpea]

Yes, we did get checks in amounting enough for both of us to put gas in the vehicles, pay the child support & pay for my step daughters school. My husband also has some good prospects for work.

[IO Storm]

Keep relying on His promises Sugar....

Do not look at circumstances...remember the disciples in the boat..and how fearful

they were...it seemed the storm would overtake that tiny little vessel.

But they had the Lord of the sea there with them!

And all he said was "Peace..be still."

He has promised to NEVER leave us nor forsake us.

NEVER.

Just trust.

the Lord has layed a burden on my heart to continue to pray for your family...

and I will until He lifts it.

[sugarssweetpea]

Thanks IO. I appreciate it. We need all the prayers we can get right now. My husband & I are trying really hard not to get depressed, but it is hard when the money does not come it & the bills keep stacking up, it is hard not to. I know that God will take care of everything, it is just hard not knowing what He has in store. Like we all know, sometimes we have to lose everything as a consequence to our sin. I am praying that is not the case.

[NOMOMERLOTMAMMA]

Have you tried your local social services?

[sugarssweetpea]

Funny that I got this devotion today.......

Day 29: Who Does It Belong To?

Acts 4:36-37

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Thoughts for Today:

Too often when we think about giving, we start with the idea that something must happen for us first before we can consider helping out someone else: after we get the promotion and raise, after we buy a larger home, remodel the kitchen, get a new sofa, replace the old car, etc. There always seems to be a never ending list of things to do or acquire before the giving begins. This is the exact opposite idea of instruction from the Bible and how things are to work in God's family.

I am sure you are aware that the tithe required by the Old Testament would be the equivalent of 10% of your income (see Leviticus 27, Numbers 18, Deuteronomy 12 and 14). I am also sure that for some of us tithing like that would seem to border on the impossible. It represents too much of a financial burden. Take a moment and figure out how much 10% of your income is -- then make a list of what you would have to give up to tithe appropriately. Now you have honestly answered the question: Why is it so hard to give? The answer: It requires more sacrifice or compromise of our lifestyle than we are willing.

How did we get this attitude about tithing? How did our finances get so tight that we live paycheck to paycheck? There are lots of answers, but I think it all revolves around one central theme and that is: We think it all belongs to us. In other words, "It's mine, I earned it and I alone decide how to spend it." This is true for the financial liberal as well as the conservative. The only difference is how it's spent: either on consumer purchases or investment and retirement accounts. The bottom line is this -- the liberal and conservative are both in error in God's sight.

In Matthew 19:16-24, Jesus was approached by a rich young man who asked what he must do to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus answered, "sell all that you have, give it to the poor and follow me." Jesus wasn't asking for 10%, He was asking for everything. You see, Jesus saw this young man's problem wasn't following the Law, it was allowing his possessions to possess him. Jesus goes on to say in verse 24, "it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

History tells us that in Jerusalem all commerce would stop at sunset or on the Sabbath because the gates allowing camels and caravans to enter the city were closed. One gate was left open for foot traffic to enter the city and that was the "Needle Gate" (which was actually a gate within the main entrance gate). A camel could fit through this gate if it was first unpacked (it's burden removed), and it crawled through on it's knees. This is a great picture for me. It tells me that if I am not careful, I can let my financial burdens (house, car, college tuition, etc) rob me of experiencing the joy of giving. So how do we free ourselves? We give what we have to God -- we follow Joseph's (Barnabas') example -- we take what we have and we put it at the foot of the cross for Jesus to do with it what He wills.

Questions to Ponder:

Those of us living in the United States are rich by the world's standard, so whether you live in an apartment or a mansion, drive a 10 year old car or a new top-of-the-line model -- You are the "rich young man" Jesus was speaking to and about. Ask yourself: who owns your television, health club membership, Starbucks card, or paycheck? What or who is the Lord of your life? Is it your possessions, or Jesus? God is the creator of the universe; if He wants to do something He doesn't need our money to do it. What He's after is our hearts. If we truly trust Jesus -- give Him our paychecks -- and let Him decide how to spend it. What is your next step in giving? Is it to see everything you have as God's? Is it to begin giving regularly? It is to trust God with the first 10%, and learn to live on the rest? What is it for you?

[sugarssweetpea]

Merlot,

I do not know anything about where to even go to try the social services. Any help on that would be greatly appreciated. I know that when we applied for medicaid for our kids, b/c my husband was employed by someone else the first 4 months of 2006 & I was working part time that year as well, they said that we made too much (going by our taxes) & to try again this year since we both are no longer employed there. What kind of payroll documents do they request? Like I said, any info is greatly appreciated. A lot of times, what I find with us is that we fall in the "in between" category. We do not make enough money to buy health insurance or pay the bills, but make too much to qualify for assistance. If you could get me some info on it, though, I am willing to try anything right now. Thanks.

[cmc]

A good place to start is your local chamber of commerce. In our area all the nonprofit/private/church-based social service programs are affiliated with each other and use a computerized database. Making some phone calls to a few of your larger churches should give you the contacts you need. For people who do not qualify financially- most of the programs I know of will provide at least one week's worth of groceries.

[BrokenBridges24]

Sugar,

I do not know exactly what you need to bring. you can call ahead and ask them? In our area Catholic Charities will help too. They will pay bills, like electric, gas, oil. You may want to check in your area to see if they could help.

I am praying for you and your family. Do not give up. Someone can help.. You do not need a hand out you just want a helping hand. I would make sure I said that to myself repeatedly.

God bless. Nothing is forever Sugar... Good or bad.

HUGS,
Broken

[angelgirl]

Prayers (((Sugar))) You have recieved good advice here. There are places to get some help. Call around. I would look into the some pantries, and see if they have any advice as to where you can go, or possibly a salvation army, because places like that sometimes know all the local resources that are available for help. Just don't stop looking, and in the mean time, I pray that your husband will get the work he needs to support your family.

Love,
Becky

[sugarssweetpea]

Thank you all for your prayers. My husband is getting two jobs going & is working on bidding another one. The problem with everything is that once you get behind, it is really hard to get caught up. Especially when you get behind on the big stuff like the $1400 mortgage that is mow 2 months behind. We got the truck & trailer payments deferred to the end, so nothing is due until March & are working on the same with the van. The homeowners insurance was pushed back until Feb 15th for the cancel date, so hopefully we can make that one. The personal auto insurance we got a refund on b/c my husband removed a vehicle that he does not drive (it is an old monster truck that he built) (which yes is for sale), which in turn makes our renewal premium only $45. SWEET!!! We did get some groceries from our church's food pantry.

A new problem in the making, though.....please pray......we got a letter in the mail yesterday regarding my husband's child support he pays for his daughter. They said that they have not received the last 2 months payments & if they do not receive them within the next 14 days from the letter (which was dated on the 1st, so Feb 14th), then they are going to take further action. WELL, we did pay them. I paid them online & we have the receipts & my husband is on his way right now to the child support office in our area to talk to them about it & show them the receipts. I know how they work & I just pray that it is able to be taken care of today & they will realize that they made a mistake. We do not have an additional $750 lying around to give to them. Thank you.